Environmental pollutants have been adversely affecting air, soil and water for many years. Chemicals can be released to the environment as a result of their manufacture, processing, and use. Chlorine is a naturally occurring substance. Its manipulation and use in forming artificial chemical products has had devastating effects on the environment which we are only now beginning to understand. In its various artificial forms, chlorine plays a major role in the most pressing environmental problems which we face today; depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and acid rain. The pollution caused by its widespread use has been linked to a variety of serious health effects; poisonings have occurred in the chlorine industry since its inception
